Public Safety

INDEPENDENCE — A 7-year-old Independence boy was injured June 17 when he was attacked by a pit bull.
Grayson County Animal Control Officer Jeremy Moss said the boy was playing in his grandmother’s yard on Big Oak Drive when the dog broke free from inside a nearby residence and attacked the boy.
Moss said the dog’s owner, Gwendolyn Hash of Independence, pulled her dog off the boy.

HILLSVILLE — The Hillsville Police Department is investigating a hit-and-run accident that happened on Main Street last Friday.
The department was called to the scene at 10 p.m. on June 13, after a witness saw a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee operated by an unknown suspect crash into a Chevrolet Tahoe that was parked in front of a residence on South Main Street.
“The suspect hit the vehicle so hard, that he basically knocked [the Tahoe] onto the sidewalk,” said Police Chief Greg Bolen.

A posting in a local yard sale page led to the arrest of Kevin Leonardo Mittman, 33, of Galax on June 10.

Galax Police Department Sgt. Shawny Jones received information that Mittman had posted an ad on a Facebook yard sale page, offering a firearm for sale. As a convicted felon, Mittman is prohibited from owning a gun.

Police made arrangements to meet with Mittman to complete the transaction for the gun. Mittman was taken into custody and a firearm seized.

HILLSVILLE — In hopes of finding a solution to Carroll County’s budget problems, Supervisor At-Large Sam Dixon suggested that they look into the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department funds for extra money.
Although he received opposition from the other members of the board at the June 9 meeting, Dixon believed that taking 15 percent of the sheriff’s department’s fines and forfeitures would be a good way to balance out the budget without further burdening the taxpayers.

When police officers in Virginia get new equipment, weapons or body armor, they often have criminals to thank.
The way Virginia law works, convicted felons are paying for the fight against crime.
Virginia law enforcement has been empowered to use money and items seized in drug busts for local police funding since the late 1980s, according to Galax Police Chief Rick Clark.

The Grayson County Sheriff’s Department has installed a new system designed to improve the efficiency and safety of officers.
Sheriff Richard Vaughan said the department received a $106,000 Attorney General’s grant from the drug forfeiture fund, and part of the grant was used to purchase software for the Mobile Data Information System.

The Better Business Bureau alerts the public to a debit card phone scam that has been making its way across the country.
Residents in four states have reported being contacted via phone calls and text messages from someone claiming to represent their bank asking for personal information.
The phone call features an automated voice claiming that the consumer’s debit card has been deactivated and to press 1 to reactivate. Then the voice asks for the debit card number.

Two men are being held in the New River Valley Regional Jail on burglary and larceny charges from a May 3 incident, according to a Galax Police Department report.
Police responded to a residence in Galax and took a report of a burglary and larceny from a home.
Donald Gray Fulton, 18, of Mount Airy, N.C., and Shawnterian Travon Sales, 19, of Galax were arrested May 11 after an investigation by officers Drew Burnett and Drew Bobbitt.